Electric locking mechanism for switch and signal levers



3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

0. GASSETT.

Patented Aug. 14, 1883.

' (No Model.)

ELEGTEIG LOOKING MECHANISM FOR SWITCH AND SIGNAL LEVEES. No. 283,231.

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

O. GASSETT. ELECTRIC LOGKING MECHANISM FOR SWITCH AND SIGNAL LEVERS. No.283,231. Patented Aug. 14, 1883.

\fimgm. \gwm. c0: m 4m e7 I v qmnuxyglgayye 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

A 0. GASSETT. ELECTRIC LOCKING MECHANISM FOR SWITCH AND SIGNAL LEVERS.

No. 283,231. Patented Aug. 14; 1883.

(No Model.)

4 ll/A 7/////////l n osoAn enssnrr, or Bos'ron, MASSACHIIS-ETTS.

ELECTRIC LOCKING MECHANISM FOR SWITCH AND SIGNAL LEVI-IRS.-

' SPECIFICATION forming Application filed April 4,1883. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OSCAR'GASSETT, a citizen of the United States,residing at Boston, county of Suffolk, State of Massachusetts, haveinvented or discovered a new and useful Improvement in Electric LockingMechanism for Switch and Signal Levers; and I do here by declare thefollowing to be a full, clear,

, concise, and exact description thereof,refer-.

ence, being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of thisspecification, in which-,- like letters indicating like parts- Figurel,Sheet 1, shows a diagram of, two railway-tracks with my present systemof apparatus applied thereto, the latter being shown partly in diagramand partly in section,

, than the tracks.

but the sectional view being to a larger scale Fig. 2, Sheet 2, shows inside elevationa Saxby and Farmer switch or signal shifting lever withsuch of theappliances thereunto appertaining as are necessary toillustrate the present invention. Fig. 3., Sheet 3, shows by sectionalview the electrical apparatus of Fig. 1, but to an enlarged scale. Fig.4 is an end elevation. of Fig. 3. Figs. 5 to 8 illustrate constructionsof electric-circuit make-and-break mechanisms, or track-instruments, asthey are generally called, suit able for use inthe present system ofapparatus. My present invention relatesto a system of apparatus whereinthe hand-actuated lever by which a switch isshifted, or a signal is set,or a draw-bridge or switch-lock is operated is automatically lockedinposition by the use of a train-actuated track-instrument controllingan electric current as the train approaches, and is automaticallyunlocked by like means operated by. the train while departing. In

this system any form or construction of hand or manual lever may beemployed, such as is adapted whenimoved to set or shift a switch, asignal, or switch or draw-bridge lock, or other movable appliance on,along, or in connection with a railway-track; but for convenience ofillustration I have shown in the drawings a lever such as is. employedin the Saxby and Farmer apparatus. This lever A, Fig. 2, with itsconnected devices, will be found described under likelettersofreferenceas those herein used in the United States Patent of John Saxby,No. 230,200, of July 20, 1880, andhence such part of Letters Patent No.283,231, dated August 14, 18 83.

description need not here be repeated. In the manner. and by theoperation described in said patent the lever motion istransmitted to aflop,

there and here lettered 0 only the edge and. end of the flop being hererepresented. This.

flop has an oscillatory or rocking motion on its axis,(and hence itsname,) and one end of said axis is represented by the bearing 0 Figs. 1

and 3. i i

From the arm I) of the lever, or in other suitable way, motion istransmitted by any suitable connection to the object or thing to bemoved-as, say, to aswitch or other device as above stated, and as arepresentative of such device I have shown a semaphore-signal, b whichmaybe arranged at anypoint where protection is desired; and for thepurposes of this part of my description I will assume that the signalI)? is at or near a street or grade trackcrossing, and that it is set atsafety position by the movementpf the lever A in one direction, andcomes back to danger under-the influence of a weight or spring, or ispulled back when the lever A is reversed. a

On the flop c is affixed a disk, the upper edge of which is curved toor' approximately to the arc of a circle struk from the axis of thebearingas a center Inthe edge of this disk is a notch or recess, 9, ofsuitable shape and size to recefvethe end of an armaturedever, s, thearmature s of which comes within the in. fluence of the electro-magnetH. This armature-lever is so weighted, pivoted, and adjusted that whenthe electro-magnet is excited by an electric current, or is in aclosedelectric circuit, the locking end 8 will be drawn up clear of thenotch or recess, and when the circuit is broken it will drop into thenotch or recess, if the latter be in proper position therefor, or assoon as it comes into position. A retractile spring may obviously beused to cause the lever to enter the recess.

It will now be seen that when the end of i the On the side of thearmatureelever s, I make circuit of electro-magnet H is broken the freeend of the armature-lever s will engage the stud i, and so lock thearmature-lever s in its downward position in the recess or as soon as itenters such recess. This locking motion of the armature-lever 8 .may begiven by means of a counter-weight, h, or by a retractile spring. Bythis means the armature-lever s is locked when in the disk-recess, andunlocked by electro-magnetic action; and it will be observed that thelocking of the flop 0 through the coaction of the disk 9 and thearmature-lever s,-takes place in the first instance when theelectro-magnet H is in a broken, or open circuit, and that such lockingwill continue so long as such circuit is broken, and also so long as itis kept in a locking position by the armature-lever s",- and it willalso be seen that the armature-lever s will be in operation as a lockingdevice so long as its electro-magnet H is in a broken or open circuit,and that to unlock,the lever A the circuit of H must be closed, and thecircuit'ofH must be closed. A loop or clip, Z, is to be added to hold orguide the armature-lever s in its proper motions.

The apparatus thus described is organized into a system for operation byconnecting the electro-magnet H into a circuit, R, .which includes abattery, 1, and a track-instrument, P, suitably arranged at a greater orless distance up the track from which trains are eX- pected in thenormal operation of the road, which track-instrument P, as presently tobe described, maybe caused to act as a circuitvbreaker by the action ofthe approaching train. The other electro-magnet, H, is coupled inanother circuit, R, which includes abattery, v and a track-instrument,P,which;latter is arranged down the track in the direction trainsnormally move in departing, at

any desired distance, and which, as presently to be described, is causedto operate as a circuit-closer under the action of the departing train.

The track-instrument P P may be of any desired construction, manysuitable ones being known in the art. One such, suitable for use at P,is shown in its main features in Figs. 5 and 6, where represents a leversuitably arranged to be actuated by the wheels of a passing train, andin such manner as to raise V a plunger, 1), and thereby cause a springcontact-plate, u, to which one terminal wire is secured, to clear thefixed contact-plate u, to which the other terminal is secured. Properinsulating material is of course to be employed at the proper points.This instrument acts and the plunger 12 may be weighted, or a spring beemployed to rElose the circuit.

The other track-instrument, P, may have the construction shown in Figs.7 and 8, where, the contacts being reversed, the circuit will be closedas the train departs. Assume now that the signal or signals are setforthe approach or passage of (a train. lever A which so sets it or them,will bring the recess 9 under the free end of the armature-lever s. Thetrain in passing track-1nstrument P will break the circuit B, so as torelease the armature-lever s and allow it to enter the recess 9, and thefree end of the armature-lever s will then engage the stud i and lockthe lever s, for, it will be observed, the electro-magnet H is then in abroken circuit. The signal-lever A will then be locked in position, sothat the signal operated thereby cannot be changed until the train shallhave acted on the track-instrument P. This action closes the circuitthrough H, attracts the armature s and unlocks the armature-lever s, sothat its electro-magnet, which then is in a closed circuit, may cause itto clear the recess g and unlock the lever A In actual use I construct.the track-instruments in any of the ways known to the art, by whichtheir action will, if need be, be suffi: ciently prolonged to producethe efiect de scribed; and for this purpose any suitable form oftrack-instrument may be employedsuch as, for example, a bar arrangedbeside and near to the rail, so that the tread of the wheel may engageboth, the terminals being properly arranged and connected with referenceto the function described; or, still further, short'section of track maybe insulated at about the points where the making and breaking ofcircuits is desired, and the connections be so made that in the mannerwell known in the art the circuits will be made and broken by trainaction, as described; and all such appliances are included herein underthe term trackinstruments; nor is the stud i essential, as any shape orconformation of the two armature-levers s 8 may be employed which willsecure the locking and unlocking actions substantially in the mannerdescribed.

It will also come within the present invention to reverse orchange theconnections and circuits and the arrangements of the magnets andarmature-levers, so that the locking shall be effected by closing thecircuit R by the action of the incoming train, and opening or breakingthe circuit R by the action of the train when departing, and themakingof such changes as will attain this order of operation will come withinthe ability of the mechanic skilled in the art; nor is it essential tothe whole of the present invention that the armature-levers s shouldengage a disk or other device secured to the flop, though I believe thisto be the best, and a combinationof whichsuch construction forms a partis included herein as of my invention.

This armature-lever may be caused to do its work by engaging the mainlever itself, or its catch-rod, or any device so connected with the Themovement of the IIO 5 l asare used in the Saxby and Farmer system ormain lever that the lattercannot be moved so long as the former islocked. Many such locks are known in the art, and they need not befurther described. a

- This system of apparatus may be utilized by applying itto any desiredhand-actuated lever, as already stated, whether for actuating asafety-signal on the line over which the train is passing, or a switchor locking-bolt lever on the same line, or for setting a danger-signalout on the line of a crossing track, so that such danger-signal levershall be locked with the signal at danger by the approaching trainoperating one track-instrument, and shall remain locked until the trainshall have passed the crossing and shall have actuated anothertrack-instrument to unlock it; and having shown and illustrated themanner of locking y and unlocking one hand-lever, the skilledconstructer will have no difficulty in applying the system of apparatusdescribed to the locking and unlocking of any handactuated leverordinarily used in connection with. the movable appliances employed onor along railwaytracks, or on any one of a series of levers such othersimilarly-operating systems.

I claim herein as my invention 1. In combination with ahand-actuatedlever for shifting a movable appliance on or along a railway-track, atrack-instrument arranged to be operated by an approaching train, anelectric circuit extending thence to an electromagnet, an armature-leverarranged to lock such hand-actuated lever, a secondarmaturelever to lockthe first in a locking pos1t1on, a

track-instrument arranged beyond thepoint v to be protected, and insuitable position to be actuated by the departing train, and an electriccircuit extending thence to the electromagnet of such secondarmature-lever, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination of a hand-actuated lever and electrically-actuatedlocking and unlocking mechanism, a track-instrument arranged at eachside of the point to be protected, an

electric locking circuit extending from one track-instrument, through abattery, to the locking mechanism, and anelectric unlocking circuitextending from the other track instrument, through a battery, to theunlocking mechanism, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination of the rotary flop of an interlocking machine,arecessed disk} 9, thereon, armature'levers 8 8 for locking, holdinglocked, and unlocking said disk, and through ,it the flop and itshand-lever, elect-ro-magnets H H, for actuating said armature-levers,and the respective circuits and track-instruments thereof, substantiallyas set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

a OSCAR GASSETT. YVitnesses:

G. W. GREGORY, FRED A. POWELL.

